Shoe-finishing tool



G. J. JULIAN. SHOE FINISHING TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, 1916.

1,335,786, Patented Apr. 6,1920.

nun-I,

mummy l UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

GIDEON J. JULIAN, 0F BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, A$SIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO UNITED-XPEDITE FINISHING COMPANY, OF BERWICK, MAINE, ACOR- PORATION OF MAINE.

SHOE-FINISHING- TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 14, 1916. Serial No. 131,328.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GIDnoN J. JULIAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of ll/lassachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Shoe-Finishing Tools, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicatinglike parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to shoe finishing tools and particularly to finishing tools such as are employed in machines for burnishing the edges of the heels of boots and shoes.

In machines of the type indicated, it is usual to employ a rotary tool shaped and arranged to polish and finishtheedge surface of a heel by being brought, while rotating, into en agement with all portions of said surface. uch tools are commonly given a transverse sectional contour which is 'a be finished. In order that they shall operate most satisfactorily, however, it is CTBSII'": able that they be provided with a yielding surface so arranged that it will contact with all portions of the heel surface despite any irregularities therein and will at the same time effect a pounding and rubbing action adapted to eliminate the lines of separation between individual heel lifts and avoid the production of tool marks or any similar inury.

J The object of this invention is to provide an improved tool of this character.

The embodiment ofthe invention herein illustrated comprises arotary burnishing tool having the working face on the circumference of the tool but the invention may obviously be applied to tools of other forms and some features may find application to other uses than burnishing and the like. It will also be understood that its application is not limited to finishing heels but that it may readily be applied to other parts of a shoe or even to other articles. The preferred construction will be more readily understood from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective viewv ofithe head end of a heel burnishing machine to which this tool has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the tool shown partly in section; and I Fig. 3 is a section through the tool perpendicular to its axis. V

In Fig. 1 the subject-matter ofrthis in vention is shown embodied in a rotary. tool forming part of a heel burnishing machine in which the tool 10 is rotated from any suit able source of power through the gears 12 and wax is supplied to the tool from a reservoir 14 by means of a rotary disk 16 dipping into the wax and transferring it to the surface of the tool 10 as in the construction shown in the patent to Pease No. 1,197,849 of Sept. 12, 1916. The wax supplied to the tool is spread overthe work surface by means of abrush 18 mounted for movement transversely of the tool and any surplus of, wax whichmay be thrown outwardly from the tool by centrifugal force, is collected on the splash guard 20 and returned to the wax disk by means of a gutter 22.

In connection with the machine there is illustrated a tread rest 24 which is adjustable, in the manner described in the above patent, by means of a slotted bracket'26 and a clamping screw 28. A rotatable wheel 30 mounted upon a spindle adjacent to'the tread rest serves as a work support. It will be understood by those skilled in the art, that the work and the tool will be relatively moved so that all portions of the heel may be brought into contact with the tool and this may be conveniently accomplished by holding the tread of the heel against the tread rest 24 and causing the work to rotate upon the work support 30 while keeping it in contact with the tool '10.

The detailed construction of the illus-' trated embodiment of this invention is more clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, from which it will be seen that a rotary actuator 32. consisting of the shaft of the heel finishing machine supports a carrier 34. The end of the shaft 32 is slotted at .36 so that, upon insertion of the threaded tapered plug 38, this part of the shaft will be expanded to center accurately and hold frictionally the carrier 34, as-is more fully described in the patent to Pease No. 959,880 of May 31, 1910. This carrier 34 comprises a series of plates 40 clamped together by means of bolts 42 and provided with annular grooves 44 in their adjacent faces. These grooves are provided with deeper portions 46 for a pur- Mounted in the pose to be explained later. grooves 4:4: are the shanks 48 of thin segmental members 50 having overhanglng work members 52 at their outer corners. The work members are preferably separated upon the segments 50 by a distance approximately equal to their ownv width. and the segments 50 are then arranged in parallel rows extending in the'direction of movement of the tool in such a manner that the work members 52 are staggered and extend beyond a line drawn midway between the center lines of adjacent rows so that their meeting line is irregular. It seems to be essential that the space between adjacent work members transversely of the tool shall be less than the similar dimension of a work surface. The step arrangement of successively acting work surfaces, as shown in Fig. 2, tends to effect-a pounding and rubbing action transversely of the face of the work. In the case of a heel, the material. of the separate heel lifts will be pounded and interworked so as to close up the spaces and hide the lines of division or separation therebetween, causing the heel to appear as one solid piece. The wor: surfaces of the individual work members 52 are preferably depressed below their center in all directions, having due regard to the contour of the tool, so that no sharp edges will be presented to the work regardless of the direction of relative movement of work and tool. It will be seen that this construction avoids the possibility of the formation of any ridge upon the work which might otherwise be caused by the separation of the work surfaces.

In order to limit the in-and-out movement of the segmental members 50 relatively to the carrier, these members. are provided with ribs 54 which co-ac-t with the deeper portions d6 of the annular grooves not only to effect this result but further to cause the work members to assume a normal or undisturbed position such that their work faces form collectively an approximately circular circumferential surface around the tool. In addition, slots 56, extending in a substantially radial dircetion in the shanks 48, co-act with pins 58 to limit the in-andout movement of the shanks and also to provide a pivot point upon which the shanks of the work members are loosely mounted so that thev may tip in the direction of movement of the tool and may also move inwardly or outwardly with relation thereto. It will be apparent that the work members Will be thrown outwardly from the shaft 32 by centrifugal force, during the operation of the machine, but that they are capable of being moved inwardly toward the shaft by the pressure of the work. At the same time, the work members may be tilted in the direction of movement of the tool. Interposed between the adjacent members 50 of a single row are resilient separators 60 preferably constructed as helical springs which are retained in place by means of pins 62in the edge of the shank of the member and by enlarged abutments 64; adjacent to the pin. Because a series of these members are mounted in a closed path around the carrier they will be norm ally held apart by means of the resilient separators 60 and, at the same time, will be urged outwardly away from the actuator 32. The action of these springs then supplements the centrifugal force set up by the rotation of the tool and at the same time tends to maintain the various work surfaces in a circular series, with the outwardly disposed working faces forming collectively an approximately circular circumferential surface while allowing either inand-out or tilting movement thereof. I

In common with tools of this type, the preferred construction of. this invention has been shown as so designed that the resultant transverse surface of the tool is curved to form a complement of the cross-sectional curve of the heel or other work to be finished. At the same time the provision of a plurality of surfaces transversely of the tool results in a finishing tool which is provided with a flexible surface capable of being tornporarily distorted inorder to adapt itself to any irregularities in the surface of the work and to produce thereby a thoroughly satisfactory result. Furthermore, as has been previously pointed out, the staggered relation of the individual work surfaces prevents any possibility of the formation of a ridge during movement of the tool.

lVhile there is herein described a pre ferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that the scope of the invention is defined in the appended claims and that various modifications and alterations in the exact arrangement shown will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A heel-finishing tool comprising a movable carrier, a plurality of rows of work members arranged upon said carrier, each row comprising a plurality ofseparated work surfaces, the work surfaces of adjacent rows being staggered and extended transversely of a line drawn midway be tween the center lines of adjacent rows'and in the direction of movement of the tool so that the meeting line of adjacent rows is irregular, and means for normally main taining the surface of the tool in a curve corresponding generally to that of the heel to be finished.

2. A tool of the class described comprising a movable carrier, a plurality ofrows of separated work members mounted thereon, the work members having surfaces which arestaggered with relation to the surfaces of the adjacent row, certain of said work surfaces extending transversely of the tool so as to cross the dividing line between the adjacent rows, and means interposed between adjacent work members for maintaining a regular normal disposition of the work surfaces with respect to said lines.

3. A tool of the class described comprising a rotatable carrier, separated work members loosely attached to said carrier, and re silient separators between said work members exerting force circularly to hold the work members with their faces forming collectively an approximately circular circumferential surfacewhile allowing momentary distortion thereof upon application to the work.

l. A tool of theclass described comprise ing a movable carrier, a plurality of work members mounted totilt in a plurality of directions from a normal position upon said carrier, and resilient separators between said members to return the same to normal position upon being disturbed by application to the'work.

5. A tool of the class described comprising a rotary carrier, a plurality of work members mounted for bodily movement upon said carrier, and resilient separators between said members tending to urge the same outwardly from the carrier but permitting depression upon application to the work. 7

6. A tool of the class described comprising a rotary carrier, separated work members disposed around said carrier and loosely mounted thereon for distinct in-and-out and tilting movement relative to the carrier, and resilient separators disposed between said work members urging the same both outwardly and to a predetermined radial p0sition whereby the work surfaces may be depressed or tilted upon application to the work in order to conform accurately to the surface of the work. 7. A burnishing tool comprising a rotary carrier, and a plurality of separated work members disposed in a closed path around said carrier and attached thereto in such manner that upon movement of said carrier said work members will be held in normal position by centrifugal force and will be adapted to be tilted and to move bodily upon application to the work so that the work surfaces of said members may contact with the whole surface of the work with a yielding rubbing action despite any irregularities therein.

8. A tool of the class described comprising a rotary carrier, and a plurality of separated work members loosely mounted upon said carrier for tilting and substantially radial movement relative thereto in such manner that upon movement of said carrier said a plurality of rows of work members loosely t mounted upon said carrier provided with projections entering the grooves therein and arranged to limit in-and-out movement of said members.

10. A tool of the class described comprising a rotary carrier provided with circumferential undercut grooves, and a plurality of work members loosely mounted upon said carrier and provided with complemental ar-v cuate ribs entering the grooves.

11. A tool of the class described comprising a movable carrier having a working face comprising a plurality of separated work members pivotally and yieldingly mounted upon the carrier and normally free for bodily'movement independently of their pivots while remaining in with.

12. A tool of the class described comprising a rotary carrier, a plurality of separated work members provided with slots adjacent their inner portion and pins upon said carrier, substantially parallel to the axis of the carrier, co-acting with said slots to retain the work .members loosely upon said carrier in order to allow an in-and-out or a tilting movement ofthe work membersrelatively to the carrier. A

13. In a tool of the class described, a rotary carrler comprising a plurality of plates provided with co-acting undercut slots,

means for clamping said plates together, a

plurality of rows of separated work members provided with projections co-acting with said slots to limit in-and-out movement of the work members relatively to the carrier while permitting tilting movement, and resilient separators interposed between the work members of a row. 7 14. In a machine of the class described, rotary carrier, a plurality of rows of Work members loosely mounted upon said carrier for in-and-out and tilting movement relatively thereto, and resilient separators interposed between the work members of a row,

contact there- 7 work members disposed transversely to the direction of movement of the tool, said members comprising oblong work surfaces of greater dimension transversely of the tool than the distance between Work surfaces of adjacent members in the same transverse row, the adjacent rows 'of work members being staggered to bring the work surfaces of one row opposite the spaces in the adjacent row and the transverse curvature of the tool generally corresponding to the curvature of the heel to be finished. I

16. In a tool of the class described, a rotary actuator, a carrier mounted thereon, said carrier being provided with a plurality of rows of circumferential undercut grooves, a plurality of rows of segmental work members provided with ribs cooperating with said grooves to allow radial movement relatively thereto, slots in said members, pins in said carrier passing through saidslots,

and resilient separators between adjacent segmental members of a row, said segmental members being provided with separated overhanging work surfaces, the work surfaces of adjacent rows being staggered and projecting beyond the median line between said rows.

17. In a tool of the class described, a movable carrier, a plurality of work members disposed in a row in the general direction of movement of the tool, means for rigidly separating certain of said work members, and means for resiliently separating certain of said work members.

18. A tool of the class described, comprising a rotary carrier provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves, a plurality of work members loosely mounted upon said carrier and provided with complemental arcuate ribs entering the grooves, and means permitting but limiting movement of said work members with respect to said rotary carrier.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GIDEON J. JULIAN. 

